


It's Always Been You

by the_cw



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, I left out all of the landon subplots because honestly who cares, Season 2 Rewrite, The Josie-Hope-Maya love triangle that nobody asked for, we're not gonna completely ignore everyone's trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:08:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26008534
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_cw/pseuds/the_cw
Summary: It takes Hope throwing herself into a hell dimension, but she finally realizes her feelings for Josie. By the time she escapes, though, Josie has moved on, just like the rest of the world. She tries to distract herself, tries to move on, but Josie's not so easy to forget.orThe Josie-Hope-Maya love triangle that you didn't know you needed (until now)
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson & Alaric Saltzman, Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman, Landon Kirby/Josie Saltzman, Maya Machado/Hope Mikaelson
Comments: 37
Kudos: 187





	1. Chapter 1

She knew that she had to jump. It was the only way to end all of this, to save the people that she loved. Her grip on Clarke’s arm was firm, there was no way for him to escape. She took a deep breath and glanced at Landon’s unconscious figure one last time. He was the love of her life, sure to be the hardest goodbye. But as she threw herself and Clarke into the dark abyss, she had only one thought.

Josie.

*

Hope awakens in a daze. She’s surrounded by an expanse of darkness that stretches on for, as far as she can tell, forever. 

She’s inside Malivore.

She feels her throat tighten, and before she can get a handle on herself, she feels hot tears flooding down her cheeks. A small sob escapes her, and soon she’s on the ground again, crumpled in on herself, crying so hard she can barely think, barely breathe.

Everyone had forgotten her. Despite everything that had happened in her short life, all the loss and heartbreak and tragedy, she had always had someone there to comfort her, someone to fall back on. But now, for the first time in her life, she was really and truly alone.

Hope spent the next few weeks (Were they weeks? They felt like weeks. She had no way of knowing for sure.) thinking about her friends and family, trying to find something to fill the gaping hole in her chest.

More often than not, she found her mind wandering to the brunette witch she had recently become so close with. She felt so lucky to have had Josie as a friend, though it ended up being brief.

Hope had always wanted to get closer to Josie, ever since she started at Salvatore when she was seven. She was too shy to do anything but watch the girl from afar, though. 

She loved everything about Josie: her kind and caring nature, her stubbornness and bravery, her smile, the way her eyes turned almost gold in the sunlight. Josie had always been so beautiful. She must have been jealous, she could never seem to get the girl out of her head.

She remembered how thrilled she was the day that her and Josie ended up picking up trash together. She was so nervous, she was getting butterflies in her stomach. Her heart leaped every time she made the brunette laugh, even if it had ultimately cost her a trash pick through the foot.

She thought fondly of all of their movie nights, their study sessions, every moment she got to spend with the siphon. Josie was the best friend she’d ever had.

She thought about the night that Josie had confessed to burning down her room, how she couldn’t even be mad, couldn’t really even give it a second thought because Josie had had a crush on her and that was all she could focus on. She didn’t know why that revelation meant so much to her. Her friend had had a crush on her as a kid, so what? Unless…

No. There was no way. Hope did not have a crush on Josie. That was impossible. She didn’t even like girls like that!

Right? 

Sure she thought Josie was pretty, but who didn’t? She had the most gorgeous eyes and most amazing lips and her sense of style just suited her perfectly and…oh fuck. 

She needed to talk to Freya.

But she couldn’t. Even if she could get to Freya, she didn’t know that the tribrid existed.

Then, it hit her. She reached into her pocket and dug out the prism that the twins had let her borrow to talk to Landon. She had still had it on her when she jumped in the pit. She placed it on the floor and watched as Freya materialized in front of her. 

“Aunt Freya!” She nearly yelled. “How did you know you were gay?”

“Well, hello to you too.” Freya replied, clearly caught off-guard.

“How did you know?” Hope demanded again, borderline panicking.

“Hope, honey, I’m not real. I’m a figment of your subconscious, I can’t give you details of Freya’s life that you don’t know.” She explained gently. “But you don’t need me to. It’s okay to have feelings for a girl, sweetie. You know that I love you the same no matter what. Always and forever.”

Hope can’t stop the tears from spilling down her cheeks. She missed her aunt so much, and she so desperately needed to hear that she was loved, even if it wasn’t really from her aunt.

“Just talk to her, Hope. Not even Malivore could contain a Mikaelson, I know you’ll find your way back to her. Tell her how you feel. Any girl would be lucky to have you.” Hope stepped forward to hug her aunt, but was quickly reminded that holograms couldn’t be hugged. She wrapped her arms tightly around herself, as if to compensate for Freya’s absence.

“I love you, Aunt Freya.”

“I love you too, Hope.” And with that, the simulation of her aunt vanished, leaving Hope to wonder if that was the last time she might ever hear those words from her. She quickly pushed the thought from her mind.

Instead, she activated the prism once again, this time coming face-to-face with the object of all of this confusion.

“Josie.” The tribrid whispered.

“Hope.” She replied with a sweet smile.

“I miss you.” The older girl confessed. “I miss you more than anyone else.” Josie’s cheeks flushed pink and she smiled at the floor bashfully.

“Josie, I think I have a crush on you.” The redhead admitted weakly, directing her eyes towards the floor.

“Of course you do. You fell in love with me the day you met me. You haven’t stopped thinking about me for a decade.” She stated matter-of-factly.

Hope blushed deeply and stuttered out, “How did you-what…?”

“Hope, I am you.” Josie reminded the flustered tribrid.

“Yeah. Right, sorry. Caught me off guard. Continue.” Hope mumbled.

“Why didn’t you ever say anything? You knew how I felt about you.” The brunette inquired.

“I didn’t know how I felt about you. I mean, I did, I just didn’t know what it meant.” Hope explained.

“And now that you do?” Josie asked, hesitantly.

“Josie, the second I get out of this hell-hole, I’m coming straight to you. And I know you won’t remember me, but I’ll fix that, I’ll find a way to bring it all back. I won’t stop until I do. I want you, Josie. And I’ll do whatever it takes to make you mine.” The tribrid said breathlessly. “I love you, Josette Saltzman. And I’m sorry I was too blind to see it earlier.”

“I love you too.” The brunette replied, her brown eyes wide and sincere. “Oh, and Hope?” The tribrid looked up at her, inviting her to continue.

“You already know the way out of here.” The younger girl remarked. She was met with a confused look.

“Hope, one of the things I admire most about you is how hard you try to trust people, even though I know it’s scary for you. I know trust is so important to you, and I know how much it hurts you to admit to yourself that people are breaking your trust.” Josie began, reluctant to continue.

“But you need to let go of Clarke. I know that deep down, you want to believe that he’s on your side. You like it that he says he’s protecting you. But he’s not. He’s the reason you haven’t been able to leave. Malivore is trying to spit you out. When he grabs onto you, he’s not trying to keep you safe. He’s trying to escape with you.” Josie explained, trying to break the news as gently as possible. “I’m sorry, Hope. I know this hurts a lot more than you’ll ever let on. I’m here for you, though. I always will be.”

“I guess I needed to hear that.” Hope admitted. “I guess, deep down, I knew it. I just didn’t want to believe it.” She took a shaky breath, then got to her feet. 

“Goodbye, Josie. I’m gonna go find the real you, now.” Hope said, the corners of her lips being tugged ever so slightly upwards.

“Goodbye, Hope.” She whispered, vanishing without a trace. 

Hope slipped the prism back into her pocket, and began to wander around, hoping to find another portal. She turned in a slow circle, ensuring that Clarke was nowhere near her, then yelled into the void, “Hey Malivore! Could you, uh, send me a portal? I wanna leave!”

Absolute silence. She felt ridiculous, trying to convince a sentient prison to spit her out.

“I’m all alone. Just me. No Clarke. Let me out!” She shouted. “Please.” She added through gritted teeth.

Suddenly, she felt the air around her swirling quickly, and saw a rapidly expanding light above her head.

“Huh.” She remarked to herself, surprised at her success. This time, she didn’t try to resist, and she found herself being slowly dragged towards the portal. 

“Wait! Hope! Don’t leave me!” She heard called from behind her. She turned to see Clarke, in a dead sprint towards her, and ran as quickly as she could towards the opening. She jumped as high as she could, the winds carrying her the rest of the way and dumping her on the grass in the middle of the twilit town square. 

She barely wasted a second trying to get her bearings; She was on her feet in an instant, half-running in the direction of the Salvatore School. She had to get to Josie.

God, it was times like this when she wished she was a full tribrid. Vamp speed would really come in handy right now. 

An impossibly long 15 minutes later, a winded Hope reached the gates of the Salvatore School, unabashedly sniffing the air for Josie’s scent. When she caught a whiff of the brunette’s unmistakable vanilla, she took off running once again, weaving in and out of the trees in the back woods that she knew so well, until she came upon the tree line by the Old Mill. 

Just in time to see Josie heatedly locking lips with Landon.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hope meets maya for the first time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this fic is going to have a lot of hope and alaric's pseudo-father-daughter relationship because I think it has a lot of potential and the show kind of ignores it, even though it's the whole reason he's such a sucky dad to the twins

It felt like a punch to the gut.

Understatement of the century.

It felt like Josie had personally reached into Hope’s chest, yanked her heart out, and stomped it into the forest floor.

Of course, she had expected something like this might happen. She knew that nobody remembered her. Life goes on, whether she’s there or not. But to speculate about it from the confines of Malivore and to see it playing out in front of her- those were two entirely different things. 

Not even an hour ago, she was professing her love to Simu-Josie, promising that she would do whatever it took to bring her memories back. But now that she was here, now that she had the real Josie in front of her…

There was no guarantee that she could bring Josie’s memories back. And even if she could, she might still choose Landon over her. It all just seemed too complicated, too confusing, too painful for everyone involved. 

If Josie was happy, who was Hope to stand in the way of that? She took one final look at the girl she had fallen so hard for, as if trying to commit every detail to memory, then quickly turned on her heel and left before she could do something selfish.

Hope wandered through the forest, tears that she couldn’t be bothered to suppress rolling down her cheeks and the image of the girl she loved making out with her trashy ex-boyfriend burned into the back of her eyelids. She realized that she did not, in fact, have any destination in mind. After all, she no longer attended the Salvatore School, and her family had no clue that she had ever existed. 

She decided to take the bus back to Georgia, to see what damage she had managed to inflict on Malivore and determine her next course of action. There was no reason to abandon her quest to defeat Malivore, especially since that was what had landed her in this predicament in the first place. Why give up now, when she had absolutely nothing to lose?

She arrived at the bus stop rather quickly, taking a seat on the bench, gazing down the road at the Salvatore School. Her home for the last decade. She supposed this was goodbye to that, too. 

She felt that she should be numb to loss at this point. After all, she had lost so many important people even before Malivore, this shouldn’t be anything new. But instead of getting easier every time, it weighed on her a little more heavily every time a loved one was ripped away from her, like everybody who left took a piece of her heart with them, the void in her chest growing each time.

The bus approached, it’s headlights nearly blinding Hope. She glanced one last time at the school, then got to her feet and started towards the bus.

The bus that was now…on it’s side, barreling towards her? It came to a screeching halt, and out stepped a giant green beast.

“You have got to be kidding me.” She muttered to herself.

She ran at the beast-she was going to assume it was a troll for the time being-and launched herself at it’s chest, the impact knocking it to the ground. Oh dear god, this thing smelled awful. While Hope was occupied with dry-heaving onto the pavement, the troll picked her up with a single hand and flung her into a tree like it was nothing. The girl had barely registered what had happened, just that she was tumbling through the air and then…darkness.

When Hope came to, she was met with blinding sunlight and a splitting headache. Fucking troll.

She pulled herself to her feet and stumbled into the street, taking notice of the splotches of purple blood trailing from the road to the woods. Looks like fighting Malivore would stay close to home, at least for the time being.

Hope followed the purple trail through the trees until she eventually came upon a familiar structure. Mystic Falls High School. Perfect.

She wandered into the school, then traced the trail to a janitor’s closet. She looked around to ensure that nobody was watching, then muttered a quick “Dissera portus.” Flinging the previously locked door wide open. Empty. Dammit.

“Aren’t you a little short for a janitor?” A voice inquired from behind Hope. Her heart stopped. She whipped around to find herself face to face with a tall brunette boy clutching his backpack.

“Nice to know I’m not the only one trying to hide out on the first day of school.” The boy remarked.

The first day of school. Oh god. It wasn’t even summer break yet when she jumped into Malivore. She had been gone for…months. She noticed the boy in front of her giving her a strange look, and realized that she hadn’t responded at all to anything he’d said.

“Oh, no, I wasn’t hiding. I was, um, I was looking for the principal’s office.” In the closet clearly marked ‘Janitorial’. Nice one, Hope.

The skeptical look on the boy’s face revealed a similar thought process, but he chose not to comment. Instead, he gestured past Hope, pointing out the principal that Hope had supposedly been looking for. Hope turned to face him, racking her brain for a plausible story to explain her unannounced arrival to the school, when she found herself before none other than Alaric Saltzman.

Hope felt a smile creep onto her face as she regarded the man who had helped her so much over the years, the man who had become a father figure to her. It was everything she could do not to run to him, to throw her arms around him and tell him everything. To let him fix this for her. She knew that wasn’t an option, though. He’d convince her to stay, find a way to restore everyone’s memories, and do everything else Hope had vowed to herself not to do in fear of causing the people she loved any more pain. The only way she’d ever be able to bring herself to leave was to stay strong and stay silent.

And then it hit her: she was at Mystic Falls High, not Salvatore. What the hell was Dr. Saltzman doing here?

Dr. Saltzman cleared his throat, and Hope realized that she had gotten lost in her head again, leaving the man in front of her to stare at her oddly.

“Hi.” She blurted out, awkwardly.

“Hello.” He responded in an equally awkward manner.

“So, um, my family just moved here, uh, yesterday. It was kind of a last-minute, unplanned thing? And this is the only school in Mystic Falls, so I was wondering if I could, like…sign up?” She rambled. Ric looked down at the floor, trying to conceal the complete and utter confusion written all over his face, then raised his head up to Hope with a reassuring smile.

“Of course. Um, follow me to my office and I can see what I can do about enrolling you in the school.” He gestured down the hall in the direction he had just come from. Hope nodded slightly, then followed him. He took a seat at his desk and collected a few forms as Hope sat down across the desk from him. He glanced at the girl in front of him, then back down to the papers in his hand.

“Don’t you have a, uh… a parent, or, like, a guardian who could be helping you out with this?” He inquired.

The question really shouldn’t have hit Hope as hard as it did. She felt her eyes burn and a lump form in her throat, but she took a deep breath and did her best to maintain a steady voice and a casual, pleasant smile.

“Oh, my parents were just busy settling into their new jobs. They knew I didn’t mind taking care of this.” Hope lied. Alaric raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but handed the papers over without comment.

Name:

Hope would be fine. It wasn’t an uncommon name, and it’s not like he remembered her anyway. So, Hope it is. Hope…

Not Mikaelson. That last name was distinctive enough, especially since he knew the Mikaelsons personally. He would surely make the connection at some point or another.

Marshall was inconspicuous enough. She was, once again, Hope Marshall.

Date of birth:

Again, she didn’t see any reason not to use her own. 5/2/2012. Easy.

Address:

Fuck. Ric had lived in Mystic Falls for, like, 20 years, she wouldn’t be able to get away with making up an address. Too risky. She left it blank for the time being, explaining that, since the move was so abrupt, they would be staying in a hotel for the time being. That seems believable, right? Ric didn’t question it, not aloud, at least.

Parents’ names and contact information:

She jotted down the first old-white-people names that came to mind: Tom and Kathleen Marshall. Whatever. But contact information…

“Dr. Saltzman?” She asked in a voice that she didn’t intend to sound as small and unsure as it ended up being.

“Yes, uh…”

“Hope.” She interjected. 

“Hope.” He echoed back to her, a vague look of what Hope thought might be recognition in his eye. Maybe not. Wishful thinking.

“Is it okay if I just give you my contact information? My parents are so busy right now, and I really don’t mind handling all of this.” She explained in a poorly masked anxious ramble.

“That’s alright, I suppose.” Ric responded, his eyebrows knit together in… what is that? Confusion? Concern? Hope just nodded and scribbled down her information.

“Hope?” The man began, hesitantly. She raised her head in acknowledgement. “I’ve got two daughters, and I know when they’re not telling me something.” Hope’s vision blurred with anxiety, her heart rate picking up, preparing excuses in her head for the interrogation that she was certain was to come. But instead…

“So, you know, if there’s, uh, anything going wrong at home, you know, if you’re in any trouble and you need to talk, just know I’m here to help, okay?” He said, in a genuine, albeit awkward, tone. 

Once again, tears threatened to spill down Hope’s cheeks, and she ducked her head, attempting to regain her composure.

“I’m fine.” She replied, trying her best to put a smile on her face, hoping and praying that her eyes didn’t betray her. She handed the paperwork to the man in front of her, refusing to make eye contact, then hurried out of the room before she could give herself away. 

Once she made it to the hallway, she all but ran to the nearest bathroom, throwing the door open and finding her way to the sink. She braced herself against the sink as sharp sobs began to rack her body, the empty feeling in her chest the strongest and most overwhelming it had ever been. She cried for her mom, she cried for her dad. She cried for Alaric and her friends and her old life. But most of all, she cried for Josie. The image of her kissing Landon played through her mind for what felt like the millionth time that morning, and she barely contained the wail of anguish threatening to erupt from her. 

She noticed some tear-blurred movement in the mirror, and scrambled to wipe her eyes and make herself somewhat presentable. Her vision focused in on a girl in a pastel purple jacket and absolutely flawless makeup. Hope ducked her head, embarrassed to be so disheveled in front of someone so well put-together.

And she really was well put-together. Her outfit was immaculate; the colors accentuated her smooth, tanned skin, and her slightly cropped shirt showed off a perfectly toned stomach. Her makeup was bold but not overbearing, and her hair was pinned into place flawlessly. 

Hope realized that she wasn’t even crying anymore, she was just standing there like an idiot, staring at the girl. She was still struggling to breathe, but for a different reason now, a reason that Hope couldn’t really put her finger on at the moment. She was probably just nervous because the girl was so much prettier than her. That’s all.

“Boy problems?” The girl asked, interrupting Hope’s train of thought. 

“Something like that.” Hope mumbled under her breath, the image of Josie with Landon still fresh in her mind.

“Girl problems?” She tried. Hope just gave a dry chuckle and looked away.

“Yeah, I know how that is. Say no more, we’ll fix you up and make her jealous.” She said, slinging her backpack off of her shoulders and onto the sinks. “I have an extra shirt in my locker, and I’ve got hairspray, lip gloss, and new eyeliner.” She placed the supplies between her and Hope, then turned to face the girl.

Josie didn’t even go to Mystic Falls High, but whatever. She’s just gonna go with it. In all honesty, Hope wasn’t really paying attention to what the girl was saying. She was lost in her own head.

That was the first time she had ever acknowledged not being straight to anyone. (Anyone that isn’t a hologram, that is.) And it was no big deal. The other girl had just kept talking. Life just went on.

Hope was pulled back to reality when the other girl introduced herself as Maya.

“Hope.” She replied.

“I’m gonna go grab that shirt for you, I’ll be right back.” Maya explained, moving towards the door.

“Okay, cool! Great!” Hope nearly yelled. Oh god. Why was she acting like an idiot? Fake-first-day-of-school jitters, she supposed. 

Speaking of fake first days of school, she had completely lost track of the entire reason she was here, subjecting herself to all of this misery. She still had a troll to kill.

Maya pushed her way through the bathroom door, tossing a balled-up shirt her way. Hope muttered a quick, “thanks”, then slipped into a stall to change. 

“So, weird question,” Hope called through the stall as she pulled her shirt over her head. “By any chance, have you noticed a terrible smell coming from somewhere inside the school?” Might as well find out what Maya knows. She needs all the help she can get if she wants to find the troll before it causes any serious damage. She heard Maya chuckle through the stall.

“I think everyone has. The boys locker room is…especially ripe today.” Maya commented. Boys locker room. Noted.

Hope emerged from the stall, tossing her shirt onto the sink and smoothing out the one that Maya had lent her.

“Oh cute, I love it.” Maya remarked, then held out a denim jacket. “Put this on, too.” Hope accepted the jacket, sliding it on awkwardly. Maya stepped towards her, pulling Hope’s hair in front of her shoulders. “Your hair is gorgeous, and the denim really brings the auburn out.” Maya gushed, playing with a strand of Hope’s hair.

“Oh, thank you.” The tribrid replied, her voice coming out quite a bit squeakier than she expected. 

“And now, we mess it up.” Maya proclaims.

“Wait, what?” Hope is completely lost. Maya grabs the hairspray and begins to spritz Hope’s hair.

“If you want a girl to want you, you dress up cute and flirt a little. But if you want a girl to go for you, you gotta make her think she has competition. It’s the only way she’ll ever make a move.” Maya explains. “So, we’re gonna mess your hair up and smudge your lipgloss a little. That way, the girl thinks you’ve been hooking up with someone else.”

“Got it.” Hope mumbled, distracted by the other girl’s proximity to her. Maya’s breath was tickling her face, and she could smell her perfume, even through the cloud of hairspray that lingered around their heads. Hope had spent so long in Malivore, she was just unused to human contact. She was just a bit overwhelmed, that’s all. The feeling in her stomach was anxiety, anxiety over everything that was going on. Isn’t it weird how much anxiety can feel like butterflies sometimes?

She felt Maya thread her fingers through her hair, dragging them up the base of her scalp, and inhaled sharply before she even realized what had happened. The other girl proceeded to comb her fingers through her hair, fluffing it up a bit. She reached to the back of Hope’s head and grabbed a fistful of her hair, pulling it firmly but gently. Hope had to bite down on her lip to keep a moan from escaping her mouth at the unexpected action. 

Having your hair played with just feels good, nothing weird.

Maya stepped back to get a good look at Hope’s hair. 

“Alright, looks good. Makeup time.” She grabbed her eyeliner off the sink and turned back to Hope.

“Sit.” She said, gesturing to the counter. Hope hopped up onto the cool tile, and Maya uncapped her eyeliner. The dark haired girl stepped towards her, and her legs parted on instinct. She stepped between Hope’s legs and cupped her chin, and Hope’s eyes fluttered shut. Because Maya was doing her eyeliner. So she needed to shut them. Right. Why was she making this weird? It wasn’t weird.

“Open.” Maya mumbled, once she had finished on her top lids. She began carefully tracing Hope’s waterline, biting her lower lip in concentration. She couldn’t rip her eyes away.

Unfortunately, Maya seemed to notice, and a small smirk spread across her face as she capped her eyeliner. The tribrid was blushing furiously, but the dark-haired girl was kind enough to pretend not to notice.

She spread lip gloss across Hope’s lips, then mimed blotting her lips, indicating for the redhead to do the same. Once the lipgloss had been sufficiently dispersed, Maya dragged her thumb across Hope’s bottom lip, smearing pink ever so slightly onto the tribrid’s skin. 

Dear god, Hope felt like her entire body was on fire. And as if this wasn’t all bad enough, Maya stepped back once again, this time raking her eyes up and down her entire body.

“You look stunning. The eyeliner really brings out your eyes.” The tribrid just sputtered in response.

“I can’t imagine there’s a single girl who wouldn’t throw themselves at you once they see you like this.” Maya added. As Hope exited the bathroom, she found herself wondering if Maya was included in that statement.

Fuck.

Maybe she was a little attracted to Maya.

That was a good thing though, right? If she focused on Maya, she could get over Josie. That seems doable, right?

Now, where the hell is the boys’ locker room?


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay okay I swear the story's gonna start focusing on haya a whole lot more next chapter, i just needed to establish all of this hope and alaric stuff first

Hope marched into the boys’ locker room, determined to just go ahead and kill the troll so she can move on with her life.

She could definitely smell the troll, so she knew she couldn’t be far off, but despite the abundance of purple blood splattered across the room, there was no troll in sight. And Hope was pretty certain that, if it was in the room, she wouldn’t miss it. Still, she was on high alert. Of all the horrible beasts that Malivore had sent her way, the troll was the only one who had been able to knock her out cold for 12 hours. So, when she felt a hand grasp her shoulder, she didn’t hesitate for a second before throwing her attacker to the floor. She already had the offender pinned to the floor, hand poised to strike, when she realized that she had just whammied her principal.

He raised his arms to protect his head, curling in on himself and trying to tell Hope to stop. She sat on top of him, frozen, and he looked at her in utter confusion mixed with a bit of fear.

“Okay, seriously. Who are you?” He asked, apparently unable to excuse Hope’s vague and evasive answers to any personal questions for any longer.

“I’m a vampire hunter.” Hope lied, immediately kicking herself for it. Of course she knew that Ric was well acquainted with the supernatural, but as far as he knew, she would have no way of knowing that. In his eyes, she had just potentially blown a secret that had been carefully guarded for over a thousand years. She really didn’t know how she’d lie that one away.

Thankfully, he didn’t seem to overthink the statement as much as Hope had, so she just kept talking. She supposed there was no harm in informing him of the troll’s presence, he’d find out sooner or later that another Malivore monster had found its way to him. He’d be able to help her, then she could leave faster.

“And I came across a creature-“

“What kind of creature?” He interjected. If he’d just let her talk, maybe she could tell him. Good to know he hasn’t changed much (besides the beard, that is).

“A creature that’s big enough to flip over an empty bus. It’s green, it’s ugly, and it smells absolutely terrible, so I’m going with a troll.” She explained. “And it’s hiding somewhere inside the school.” She added, realizing that she still hadn’t made the real reason for her arrival at MFHS clear.

“And how do you know that?” Ric asked.

“Because I wounded it.” Hope gestured vaguely to the splotches of troll blood that he had somehow missed, and continued on. “It’s nocturnal, so it hides out during the day. I found a legend that says I just have to pierce it through the heart-“

“Listen,” he interjected again. “You’re not doing anything, okay? You’re just a kid. If there’s a monster in my school, I’m gonna take care of it.” Hope’s blood boiled at his all-too-familiar condescension and dismissal.

“No offense, but I’ve been trying to kill this thing for over a week, and nothing’s worked.” Hope lied again, hoping that he’d let her help if she made it sound too difficult for him to manage alone. She realized that her failure didn’t hold much weight with him, though, since he knew her as a petite human teenage girl, not the most powerful supernatural creature known to man.

“If you are a vampire hunter, then I’m sure you’ve heard of Alaric Saltzman? I know what I’m doing” He shot back, with a cocky tone and a self-righteous look on his face. Hope didn’t answer, she didn’t trust herself not to shatter his horribly over-inflated ego on the spot. He could really be a pain in her ass, sometimes.

“Yeah, you’re very famous around here.” She said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “But you’re gonna need my help.” She was done beating around the bush. She was pissed at him and thoroughly done with this petty squabble.

“I’ve put kids in danger before, and I’m not gonna make that mistake again.” He said, firmly. Hope softened at that, realizing that Ric was genuinely trying to protect her. Maybe this had something to do with his transfer to MFHS, maybe he crossed a line and got a kid killed or something. After all, he didn’t have an immortal tribrid at his disposal anymore. Before she could even begin to formulate a response, the bell rang and the locker room was flooded with teenage boys, all staring at her and Dr. Saltzman. She didn’t know what they were thinking, but getting caught in the locker room with her principal certainly had interesting implications- ones that she would definitely rather not think about.

“Yes, of course we’d love to have you try out for the team, all are welcome.” Ric was loudly addressing her, apparently trying to not-so-subtly explain the scene that the boys had walked in on. “But in the meantime, go to class. And stay there.” He hissed, emphatically. Hope was more than happy to make her exit.

She made her way to her next class, collapsing at an empty table in the back. Chemistry. Great. The last thing she wanted to be doing at the moment. 

“Can I sit?” A voice beside her asked, and she looked up to find Maya, her hand resting on the back of the other chair at the table Hope was seated at. Hope’s stomach erupted in butterflies again.

“Oh, sure!” Hope said, more than a little bit too enthusiastic. Her face reddened and Maya smirked, a look she knew all too well even after barely 2 hours of having known the girl.

“I guess we’re lab partners, then.” Maya commented. 

“Right.” Hope replied, ducking her head and grinning to herself. Maybe being forced to go to class wasn’t so bad.

The teacher gave instructions for a simple experiment, but Hope wasn’t listening. Not a single bit. Every time she tried to focus on the teacher’s words, Maya drew her attention in, just by doing the littlest things. The way she chewed on her lip while she tried to concentrate, the way she absentmindedly braided a small strand of hair, the way her face looked when she rested her chin in her hands. It was so adorable, it almost looked like a pout. It almost looked like-

No. She absolutely would not go there. She was never going to see…her again. It was best to push the brunette twin out of her mind. She was going to kill the troll and then leave this town, and she was never going to come back. 

Shit, the troll. All of this stupid girl drama was clouding her head. She needed a plan. The troll was nocturnal, right? It had been sticking to the shadows. If she couldn’t overpower it with brute force, she’d have to disable it for long enough to kill it. And she knew just how to do it.

“Maya, could you do me a favor?” Hope whispered, once the teacher had finished giving her instructions. 

“Anything for you.” Maya replied coolly, making Hope blush furiously.

“I need you to distract the teacher for a minute. Just keep her facing that way.” Hope gestured towards the front of the room, eyeing the supply closet in the back. Maya gave her a strange look, but called the teacher over nonetheless. Hope dashed to the closet, swiped a few things from the shelf, and dumped them as inconspicuously as possible into her backpack. She gave Maya, who was asking the teacher questions that were beyond irrelevant to their project, a small nod.

“Okay, never mind, I got it. Thanks!” Maya told the teacher abruptly, turning back to Hope.

“What was that about?” She questioned the redhead.

“Long story. Thank you, though, you’re a lifesaver.” Hope deflected.

“Oh, I know.” Maya teased, with an exaggerated hair flip. “Now, let’s get to work on the project.”

*

After Chemistry, Hope decided that she could waste no more time before putting her plan into action. What was Dr. Saltzman going to do, expel her? From the school she’d have disappeared from by tomorrow? Whatever.

She scoured the halls for a trace of troll blood, clutching her homemade chemical concoction underneath her jacket. She spotted a splatter of purple liquid at the door to what Hope guessed was the basement, and checked to make sure there was no one watching as she crept towards it. She heard a loud crash and a groan of pain from what sounded like her principal, and immediately dashed through the door and down the stairs. 

She found Dr. Saltzman crumpled on the floor, the troll standing above him, poised to strike.

“Hope,” he groaned, “Go. Now.” She rolled her eyes and tossed the jar she’d been hiding under her jacket towards the troll. It stopped in its tracks, looking confusedly at the container of bluish liquid clattering towards him. 

“Sol.” Hope whispered, and shielded her eyes as a flash of light exploded from the jar, effectively blinding the troll.

“Hope!” Dr. Saltzman called from the floor, tossing her an arrow. She suspended it in the air with a wordless spell, then propelled it towards the distracted troll, driving it directly into its heart. It fell to the floor lifelessly, and Hope ran to her principal’s side.

“Are you okay?” She asked in a panic, kneeling next to him. 

“I’m fine.” He responded, not very convincingly as he winced in pain when Hope helped him up. “I’m gonna go ahead and agree with your troll theory.” He said, eyeing the corpse in front of him.

“You didn’t tell me you were a witch.” He turned to face her, eyeing her suspiciously.

“Look, I’m just here to kill this thing, then I’ll be out of here.” She replied, completely avoiding eye contact. “Meet me here after school so we can clean this thing up.” She didn’t even wait for a response, just hurried towards the stairs before he could question her any further.

“Hope.” He called behind her. “Hope!”

“What?” She whipped around, exasperated.

“It’s, uh…” He glanced down at his watch. “It is after school.”

“Perfect.” Hope muttered to herself, glancing through the small window in the basement door. 

“There’s still, like, hundreds of kids here, though. We can’t just drag a thousand pound troll body through the hall with them here.” She pointed out.

“Come to my office, then. Give it an hour and they’ll all be gone.” Ric replied. As hesitant as Hope was to spend more time with him, she realized she didn’t really have any good reason to refuse, and she didn’t want to give him any more reasons to be suspicious. So finally, she relented, nodding slightly and making her way up the stairs, Ric following behind.

They made their way to his office in silence, not really able to discuss the murder of a troll in the presence of high schoolers anyway.

When they entered Ric’s office, Hope immediately collapsed onto the couch by his desk, while he took the seat behind his desk and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. He kicked his feet up onto the desk and took a long sip, staring at the ceiling contemplatively.

“How’d I know to throw you that arrow?” He asked her.

“What?” Hope replied. He was on the ground and she was ready to fight. Why wouldn’t he have thrown her the arrow?

“It was like…muscle memory.” He explained, more to himself than Hope, eyes still trained on the ceiling. He sat up abruptly and fixed his eyes on her, squinting, as if to get a better look at her.

“We’ve fought together before, haven’t we?” Posed as a question, but intended as more of a statement. Hope’s eyes widened in panic for a brief moment, but she forced herself to play it off.

“Is that your first drink of the day? I think you’d remember me if we’d fought together before.”  
She remarked, sarcastically. He set his glass down emphatically, then leaned back in his chair. 

“Yeah, well I live in a world where a monster called Malivore can erase a person completely.” He began, open-endedly.

“Right, well I’m just passing through. After today, you’ll never see me again. It’s best that way.” Trying to convince herself as much as him.

“Why?” 

“Everyone’s moved on. Their lives are complete. Trying to insert myself somewhere where I don’t belong anymore would just be painful and confusing for everyone involved.” She held back tears for what felt like the millionth time today, and realized that this was more than she should be revealing to her principal. She glanced into the hall and found it empty.

“We should probably go deal with that troll.” She got up and left before he had the chance to protest, wiping her eyes as subtly as she possibly could.

She walked quickly to the basement, making sure to stay a few paces ahead of Alaric. She didn’t need any more questions, and she certainly didn’t need him to bring up any more fucking feelings. She needed a clean break from this. 

Which, apparently, was never going to happen, because, somehow, the troll had disappeared, leaving only an arrow and a puddle of purple in its wake.

“Fuck.” Hope whispered through gritted teeth, giving the wall next to her a solid kick. The cement cracked easily, and Hope turned to see a baffled Alaric, clearly stunned at her unexpected display of strength. Thankfully, he had the good sense not to comment.

Where the hell is the troll? How had it just gotten up and walked away? All of her research had shown that a troll just needed to be pierced through the heart…

“Maybe we missed it’s heart?” Ric suggested.

“Or maybe, it’s not a troll…” Hope began, processing aloud. “Maybe, it’s like that time the Oneiroi disguised itself as a Night Hag. We have to find out what it actually is to kill it.”

“Wait, you were there for the Night Hag? How-?” He began, but was cut off by a sharp glare from the redhead.

“Come on, it shouldn’t be too hard to track.” Hope mumbled, gesturing to the much more obvious trail of blood that the not-troll had left this time. 

The two of them traced it to the park in the middle of town, where Hope, without hesitation, lit it on fire (maybe a slightly careless move considering their very public location, but she was far too upset to care).

Apparently, it was a good move, though, because Hope’s fire spell turned the not-troll’s tuft of ugly, matted hair to dust, revealing an eye at the top of it’s head.

“Cyclops.” She heard Ric mutter to himself. “Hope, the eye!” He called out to her, tossing her another arrow. Just as she had done earlier, she used magic to suspend the arrow in midair and drive it directly into the monster’s eye. It collapsed to the ground, and quickly deteriorated into glowing ashes.

Hope breathed a sigh of relief, and turned back to her principal. 

“I guess this is goodbye, then.” He sighed, sadly. Hope nodded, her eyes trained on the ground. She didn’t trust herself not to break down again.

“Here.” He said, holding his crossbow out to her. “Take it. I want you to promise me that you’ll keep yourself safe.”

“But…this is your crossbow! I’ve never seen you fight anything without it. You can’t just give it away.” She protested weakly, tears finally flooding down her cheeks.

“I get the feeling you’re important enough to me that… that this is right.” He choked out, pressing it into her chest. Hope brought her hand up, holding the crossbow to herself. 

“Good luck, Hope. If you ever need anything, come find me.” She just nodded again, having to hold her breath to contain the sobs that were threatening to break loose. She looked up, taking a slow, deep breath, then brought her eyes back down to the man in front of her. 

“Goodbye, Dr. Saltzman.” She whispered, turning on her heel and forcing herself to walk away, just as she had done with Josie the night before. She wandered down a dark path through the park, hugging herself tightly, allowing herself to cry freely.

She thought back to the day her mom died, and the day her dad died. How she had never really gotten to say goodbye. 

She finally had the chance to say goodbye to a parent (or at least a parental figure). She got the moment that she had been wishing for since she was 15. But was this really better? Did that really make it any easier?

Dr. Saltzman had honestly felt more like a father to her than her father had. Sure, he had his moments, but he had always been there. Always. 

And she had just walked away.

But this was for the best, right? She had reasons for leaving. Good ones. Ones that, in the midst of her breakdown, seemed to completely escape her.

And before her mind could even catch up with her body, she found herself in front of the Forbes’ old house, knocking on the huge wooden door.

When he came to the door, it finally hit her exactly where she was, exactly what she had done. And as she stood there, her mouth hanging open wordlessly, she couldn’t find it in herself to fight anymore.

“My name’s not Hope Marshall.” She began. “It’s Hope Mikaelson. I’m Klaus and Hayley’s daughter.” She heard her voice break at her mother’s name. Alaric’s eyes softened immediately at the mention of her parents. Her dead parents.

“And I know you don’t remember this, but you’re the closest thing I have to a father now.” She choked down another sob. “And the entire world has forgotten that I exist. And the… the person I love has moved on. So, I have absolutely no idea what to do next.” Her voice was breaking on every other word, tears were flooding down her face, her breath had completely escaped her. She felt pathetic. She felt… broken.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure it out…together.” He reassured her, stepping forward tentatively. She let herself fall into his arms, clinging to him and sobbing uncontrollably, as he rubbed her back soothingly. She cried and cried and just let him hold her. 

“Do you want to stay here with me while we figure things out?” He whispered to her once her breathing had evened out. She just nodded against his chest.

“Okay. Do you want anything to eat? I was just about to order dinner.” He asked.

“I just wanna go to bed right now.” Hope answered, still sniffling slightly.

“Alright. There’s a bedroom at the top of the stairs on the right, it should have some spare clothes and stuff in it. Help yourself to anything.” 

“Thanks.” She mumbled, making her way towards the stairs.

“And Hope?” He called out to her. “I’m really glad you stayed.”

“Yeah. Yeah, me too.” She said softly. “Good night, Dr. Saltzman.”

“Goodnight, Hope.”

She kicked her shoes off and flopped into bed immediately, not even bothering to change, not bothering to care that she was sleeping in someone else’s bed. She drifted off to sleep reveling in the bed’s oddly familiar and extremely comforting vanilla scent, but she didn’t realize until the moment before she drifted off who it belonged to.

Josie.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some real haya for u 
> 
> tw: mentions of domestic violence and alcohol abuse

“You sure you’re up for school today?” Ric asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

“Yeah, might as well go.” She sighed, opening the car door and slinging her borrowed backpack over her shoulder.

“Alright. Well, if you need anything…” He trailed off, his eyes fixed on something in the distance.  
“Uh, see you later, Hope.” He walked off quickly, obscured behind a few other parked cars. What the fuck was that? Another monster? Hope really had no choice but to follow him.

She crept along behind the cars, then peered around slowly when she got to the last one in the row. She found Ric not 5 feet away, in a conversation with the new sheriff. He looked absolutely terrified.

“Is everything alright here?” Hope asked protectively, marching over to the two adults.

“Everything’s fine, honey. We’re just talking.” Sheriff Mac reassured her with a smile. She looked to Ric for confirmation.

“We’re all good here, Hope. Get to class.” He told her, his face pinched awkwardly in… what was that, embarrassment? Weird. But he didn’t seem to be in any sort of trouble, so Hope acquiesced. She turned to move towards the school, when one of the windows in the back of the patrol car was rolled down. 

“Hey, Hope!” The boy she had met the morning before called, resting his arm on the window and his chin on his elbow charmingly.

“Oh, fuck off, Ethan.” She saw Maya stroll around the squad car straight to Ethan’s window and shove him playfully back into the car by his forehead.

“Maya!” She greeted her with a smile, but her face quickly contorted into confusion. “Why are you two…” She trailed off, gesturing towards the cop car. 

“Our mom’s the sheriff.” Ethan interjected.

“Our mom?” Hope repeated.

“He’s my brother.” Maya explained, linking her arm with Hope’s and dragging her towards the school.

“My brother that CAN’T HAVE YOU!” Maya called over her shoulder. Ethan just shook his head and chuckled playfully, but Hope was blushing furiously at the implications of that statement. Maya was just being a good friend, right? Who wants their friend to date their brother? That was all that this was about. But then…

“You look cute today.” Maya commented casually, her eyes raking up and down Hope’s body.

“Thanks.” The flustered tribrid responded. These are Josie’s clothes, she wanted to add, but she was determined to forget about Josie, and Maya didn’t even know her anyway.

Forget about Josie, she reminded herself once more. Move. On.

“You look cute too.” Hope blurted out, after an excessive pause. Maya just smirked to herself.

“You know, you should join the football team.” Maya mentioned, poking the redhead’s bicep with her opposite hand, her closer arm still intertwined with Hope’s. “I can tell you work out.”

“You guys need more players?” The tribrid asked.

“Nope. Just wanna spend more time with you.” Maya told her, as nonchalant as always. Hope felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. How could such simple words leave her completely speechless? 

Hope didn’t play sports. Hope didn’t do social things. Hope was a lone wolf. No exceptions.

But for some godforsaken reason, she found herself nodding with a little too much enthusiasm, still unable to give any coherent verbal response.

“Great! First game’s today at Salvatore, 4 o’clock. I’ll talk to Coach for you.” Maya beamed, letting go of the tribrid’s arm and planting a quick kiss on her cheek. 

“See you later!” She called out, making her way down the hall towards her class. Hope just stood there, frozen on the spot, a smile spreading across her face as she brought her hand up to her cheek. 4 o’clock couldn’t come fast enough.

*

“Hope? Are you okay?” She heard a soft voice in her ear, and felt a gentle hand cradle her cheek and turn her head. She locked eyes with Maya and was snapped out of her stupor.

“Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” She muttered weakly. 

She was not fine, far from it, in fact, because the moment she had stepped off the bus, she had locked eyes with Josie from across the Stallions’ football field. Josie, who didn’t know her, didn’t remember her, and was probably wondering why she was making such intense eye contact with a stranger. Josie, who had dropped her gaze and continued on like it was nothing.

It was the first time she’d seen the girl since the night she escaped Malivore, ready to profess her love, only to find her locking lips with her ex-boyfriend. 

She really didn’t think this whole football thing through.

“Hope. Hope!” Maya was waving a hand in front of her face. “Sorry. You spaced out again. Are you sure everything’s alright?” She was suddenly very aware of the way Maya was cupping her face, brushing her thumbs soothingly across her cheeks. She could feel the other girl’s breath on her face and suddenly, she was panicking for a whole different reason.

“I’m fine!” She squeaked out, cringing at the embarrassing pitch of her voice.

“Okay.” Maya relented, eyeing her suspiciously. She wrapped an arm around Hope’s waist and walked her to the field, while Hope just tried her best to breathe normally and keep her face from turning the color of a tomato. They dropped off their bags quickly, and Maya dragged her by the hand to the coin toss. 

“What? Why am I doing this?” Hope hissed at the other girl.

“You’re QB1.” Maya answered, simply.

“I’m what?” Hope exclaimed, eyes as wide as saucers.

“Yep. Ethan can’t risk blowing his knee on a pickup game, and you seem…” Maya interrupted herself to rake her eyes up and down Hope’s toned body. “…more than qualified.” Hope’s mouth dropped open in protest, but before she could get a word in, some wrinkly old British dude she was sure she’d never seen in her life was telling them to ‘call it in the air’. 

Josie was staring Hope down, a bit more aggressively than was probably appropriate for some pickup match, but Hope chalked it up to the competitive streak that she knew the siphoner possessed, despite her attempts to suppress it. 

Hope called tails, so, of course, the coin landed on heads. Timberwolves were receiving first. 

The team quickly huddled up, all looking expectantly at Hope.

“What?” She asked dumbly, not quite sure why all eyes were on her.

“You’re QB1, you call the plays.” Maya reminded her. Hope chuckled nervously, racking her brain for some kind of football term.

“Uh, everybody go long?” She decided hesitantly. 

“Works for me!” Maya announced, starting towards the end zone for Salvatore’s kick. She must have noticed Hope’s complete lack of movement, because she grabbed her by the wrist once again and dragged her with her.

“You’ve never played football before, have you?” Maya whispered, her breath ghosting the redhead’s ear. Hope couldn’t contain the shiver that ran down her spine.

“Oh, uh, um…yeah, no. Never.” She stuttered out, nervously. Maya quickly brushed her hand over Hope’s back, hoping to reassure her a bit.

“Don’t worry. You’ll do great.” Maya was looking at her with a bright, sincere smile, and Hope couldn’t help but give a small one back.

“Okay, I got this.” She mumbled to herself, under her breath. “Let’s do this!” Hope shouted to her team, clapping her hands together once. You know what they say, fake it ‘till you make it. Hope imitated the stance that all of her teammates had adopted, then shifted her eyes towards the Stallions, who were positioned similarly. Her gaze drifted to Josie, who was, once again, glaring at her. What was her deal? 

Whatever. The game was starting. She didn’t know Josie, Josie didn’t know her. They were nothing but strangers playing football. It was fine. This was fine.

*

Who the hell was this girl?

She had never seen her before, and she’d been on the Salvatore football team since the minute she was old enough to play. 

Whatever. She didn’t know, and she didn’t care. Except for the fact that her boyfriend was unabashedly staring at her, his eyes following her every move. 

“Landon!” She hissed, snapping her fingers sharply in front of his face. 

“Wha-?” He mumbled, turning to Josie with a dreamy look lingering in his eyes.

“Who the fuck is she?” She spat in a whispered tone, trying her best to avoid making a scene.

“Dunno, I don’t know her.” Landon mumbled, looking like a chastised toddler. 

“Good, and you never will, so stop looking at her like she’s your long-lost lover and focus on me. Your girlfriend.” Josie’s blood was boiling at this point, and it was everything she could do not to Ignalusa them both into oblivion on the spot. They deserve each other. They can rot in hell together for all she cares.

So, when MG blasted the ball to the Timberwolves’ end of the field and straight into that girl’s arms, she saw her opportunity and she took it.

She took off in a dead sprint towards the girl, and watched as she launched the ball to one of her teammates. Josie didn’t even break stride, because frankly, she didn’t care if the girl had possession or not. She was going to pummel her into the ground, consequences be damned.

She hit the auburn-haired girl hard, taking them both down to the ground on impact. She glanced down at the girl beneath her, ready to throw out some random threat or maybe just sink a fist into her face, but she froze at the sight of the already-exhausted girl flushed and panting below her, clutching at her waist to steady her. 

She felt a wave of heat wash over her body- that’s what anger does, right? It sets a flame in the pit of your stomach, it takes your breath away, makes it so you simply can’t look away. 

Josie must be really angry, then.

“Fuck, Jo.” She snapped out of her trance and followed the other girl’s eyes to her own hands; Her hands that had somehow landed directly on the girl’s chest. Oh god, that’s really awkward. She quickly grabbed onto the girl’s black and red jersey, yanking her closer in what she hoped was a very threatening manner, in an attempt to play off her poor hand placement.

“How the hell do you know my name?” Josie hissed at the girl below her, fists still twisted into her jersey, her face mere inches from the other girl’s. The girl’s eyes widened in panic, her mouth falling open wordlessly, then closing once again. 

“Your friend, he said it a minute ago.” She squeaked, gesturing towards Landon. 

“He’s not my friend, he’s my boyfriend. So stay the hell away from him.” Josie growled at her, releasing her shirt and shoving her back to the ground with a single hand. She attempted to climb off of her while the auburn-haired girl shifted underneath her, clearly trying to remove herself from the situation as well, but she only succeeded in bumping her knee between Josie’s legs, making her gasp involuntarily. The brunette jumped up as quickly as she could and stormed away, trying with every ounce of willpower she had to ignore the persistent throb between her legs. That stupid clumsy bitch.

The play was long over and her teammates were all lined up once again, ready to resume the game. 

You know what? Screw the game. 

She marched directly over to Landon, grabbing him roughly by the hair and dragging him in for a kiss, shoving her tongue unceremoniously into his mouth. That’ll show her. Landon is hers.

After a moment, she shoves Landon away, scanning the field to find the other girl. But apparently, she hadn’t even noticed, she was too busy talking to some random raven-haired girl. They were standing WAY too close together, and apparently the dark-haired girl just couldn’t keep her hands to herself, because she was all over the auburnette: Fixing her hair, grazing her shoulder, cupping her face. It was disgusting. They might as well just be ripping each others’ clothes off in the middle of the field, with the way they were acting. Like, come on, have some decency! Football is not the time for PDA.

When the two of them finally decided they were done eye-fucking each other, the play started again, and the still-fuming brunette was itching to take someone down. 

Luckily for Josie, the dark-haired girl received the ball and decided to try to run it down the sideline, straight into her line of defense. The brunette ran alongside the girl for a moment, not even attempting to pull a flag. She simply pretended to reach for the ball and thrust an elbow right into the girl’s nose. The girl crumpled to the ground, clutching her face, blood already coating her hands. Good.

“Josette!” A sharp voice called from behind her. Vardemus.

She jogged over confidently, expecting to be thrown out of the game at the very least. Not that she cared, that was totally worth it. Instead…

“You have got to learn to be more subtle! You’re a witch for heaven’s sakes!” Her headmaster chided her. “Here.” He thrust a slip of paper into her hands. “Use this next time. It will have the same effect, but you may be able to avoid some…responsibility, if you know what I mean.” There was a devious twinkle in his eye. Josie nodded determinedly, repeating the incantation to herself as she walked back onto the field. 

As she resumed her position, she saw the auburn-haired girl jog back onto the field, blood spotting her jersey. Great, she must have been helping her stupid fucking girlfriend deal with her nose.

A tall, athletic-looking guy followed her onto the field, presumably the injured girl’s replacement. Good, at least she wouldn’t have to be subjected to any more… oh my god, was he checking her out too? Why was everyone obsessed with this bitch?

And why was her entire team looking at her like she was crazy? What did she do?

“Jo, are you okay?” Lizzie whispered subtly as she pulled her into a hug.

“What are you talking about?” Josie snapped back.

“You just made…like…an angry pterodactyl noise for no reason.” Lizzie explained cautiously, her eyebrows furrowed in concern and confusion. 

“Get off me, I’m fine.” She gave her sister a shove in the other direction, and turned her attention to the game. The whistle blew, and before she knew it, the annoying replacement was clearing every defender in his path, arm raised to throw the ball straight to one of his teammates in the end zone. Without a moment’s hesitation, Josie whispered Vardemus’ incantation, and in an instant, the boy’s arm snapped and he crumpled to the ground, screaming in pain.

Holy shit.

“What have I done?” She mumbled under her breath. Her legs felt like jelly and her knees collapsed beneath her, leaving her sobbing in the grass. She felt a pair of arms wrap around her, shushing her gently in an attempt to calm her down.

She couldn’t. 

She didn’t even know who she was anymore. She had tackled a girl to the ground and threatened her for something she hadn’t even done, elbowed another in the face for reasons she still couldn’t really articulate, then broken another boy’s arm without a moment’s hesitation. 

And she had enjoyed every second of it.

“Lizzie…” She looked up at her sister, still hiccuping and choking down sobs. “What’s happening to me?”

*

“Hope?” She heard a small voice in front of her ask.

“Maya.” She whispered, standing quickly to meet the girl.

“What are you doing here?” The dark-haired girl asked in a voice that could only be described as... broken.

“I-I wanted to come check on you after the game. You and Ethan.” She added as an afterthought, cupping Maya’s face and gently wiping her tears away. 

“He worked so hard for that scholarship.” Maya choked out. “And now it’s over.”

“Oh, come here.” Hope whispered, pulling the other girl in for a hug, rubbing her back soothingly. It made her heart hurt to see her friend, who she had always known to be so confident and well put together, so utterly distraught.

“He has to get s-surgery. He-he’s gonna be here all night, maybe even t-tomorrow night too.” Her words were broken by hiccups and sobs, and she leaned further into Hope, letting the girl hold her tighter.

“Do you want me to stay here with you?” Hope offered, pulling her head back slightly so she could see the other girl’s face.

“I really can’t ask you to do that, Hope. Hell, I don’t even want to be stuck in the hospital for two days straight.” She said with a small smile.

“Come stay with me, then. You shouldn’t have to be alone right now.” Hope assured her. 

“Thank you.” Maya whispered.

“Come on, we’ll have to walk. It’s not far, though, I promise.” She said, finally pulling away from their embrace. “I’m gonna call home just to make sure it’s okay. I’m sure it’ll be fine, though.” Hope added, pulling out her phone.

“Hey! Uh, is it okay if Maya stays over tonight? Ethan’s still in the hospital.” She explained.

“Yeah, that’s fine. I’m still doing, uh…damage control with my girls, so I won’t be back until later.” Ric replied. “Do you girls need anything?” 

“Nope, I think we’re all good. Thanks.” 

“Okay, well, I guess I’ll be there when you wake up. Goodnight, Hope.” 

“Goodnight.” She hung up, then turned to Maya. “He’s fine with it.”

“Perfect.” Maya gave her a small smile, which Hope easily reciprocated. They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence, both choosing not to comment when they laced their fingers together, swinging their joined hands slightly in time with their strides. 

“This one’s mine.” She gestured to the house, voice barely above a whisper. Hope guided them through the front door, slipping off her shoes while Maya did the same.

“Are you hungry? I could make something really quick, or we could order in.” Hope offered.

“I’m kind of in an ice cream mood. You have any?” 

*

It was already late when they had gotten home, so after the two of them devoured a pint of ice cream each, they took turns taking quick showers, then retired to Hope’s bed.

Hope had lent Maya some of her clothes, which were technically Josie’s clothes, and didn’t fail to see the irony in it. 

But seeing the other girl in a big, baggy sweatshirt with sleeves that stretched far past her hands and nearly reached her knees admittedly made her heart flutter a bit, and she decided that there were definitely worse things in the world than settling for Maya.

“How are you feeling?” She whispered. The girl had curled into her side, resting her head on the auburn-haired girl’s shoulder. Hope had wrapped an arm around her and interlaced their fingers once again, their hands resting on Maya’s chest.

“Better. Thanks to you.” Maya raised her head and smiled at her. Hope just beamed back, gazing at the girl beside her with pure adoration. The dark-haired girl laid her head down once again, nuzzling into Hope’s shoulder. 

“I didn’t know Principal Saltzman was your dad.” Maya commented, using their joined hands to gesture in the direction of one of Josie’s picture frames. “I get it, I don’t particularly love telling people my mom’s the sheriff, either.”

“Oh, he’s, uh… he’s actually not my dad. I’m just staying with him for now.” Hope admitted. “My dad died when I was 15. My mom, too.” 

“I’m really sorry.” Maya whispered back, her thumb starting to move over the back of Hope’s hand soothingly. “What happened? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, of course.”

She had never really had to explain this before. Everyone in the supernatural world knew what had happened before she even had the chance to tell them. Not that she would’ve wanted to, anyway. She couldn’t think of anything more painful than recounting all the gory details of her parents’ deaths.

But somehow, cuddled into bed with Maya, Hope felt so at peace with everything that she just started talking.

“My mom and I were kidnapped. My ex-boyfriend’s mom kind of brainwashed him into helping her do it. They tortured me until I was unconscious and my mom knew I was about to die. So she…” Hope paused, due in equal parts to the lump forming in her throat and her inability to tell Maya about her mother’s true cause of death without outing her as a supernatural. “She killed my ex’s mom, but she…she died in the process.” Hope felt hot tears begin to flood down her face. “Once his mom died, my ex-boyfriend gave it up, and they found me in their house. When I woke up, they told me my mom was…was dead.” Hope’s breathing was starting to become uneven, so she paused to take a few deep breaths before continuing. 

“She saved my life.” Hope whispered, mostly to herself, as she curled further into Maya for comfort. The all-too-familiar feelings of guilt gnawing away at her stomach. 

“My dad, he…” She trailed off, not quite as sure how to twist this one into a vaguely normal story. “I got him sick. My uncle too. I don’t really know how it happened. I recovered, but both of them just…didn’t make it.” Hope choked out.

And it was all my fault. She thought to herself, causing a small sob to escape her. Hope took another deep, shaky breath, and fixed her eyes on the ceiling.

“My family was pretty well-known. Not for… good things…so my parents sent me to a boarding school under my mom’s last name. They wanted to give me a chance to get away from their reputation and build my own life. Everyone found out when they died, though. Nobody wanted anything to do with me anymore, and I didn’t have the energy to care. I lost everyone.”

At that last sentence, Hope broke. Her parents’ deaths would always hurt, but after the past few years, the wounds weren’t so fresh. But losing everyone…that just hit a bit too close to home.

Hope let Maya hold her as she cried…and cried…and cried, until her breathing finally quieted and she just couldn’t cry any more.

“I’m sorry.” Hope whispered. “I didn’t mean to-“

“Hope.” Maya cut her off, gently but firmly. “Don’t apologize. Trust me, I know how much you need that, sometimes.” Maya’s face dropped, as did her voice. “Um, my dad actually died when I was 15, too.”

“How?” Hope asked, softly. “You don’t have to…” She started, sensing the girl’s hesitation.

“No, it’s okay.” Maya assured her. “Um, my mom… she wasn’t always a sheriff. She was actually a high school teacher for most of my life.” The dark-haired girl began, pausing for a moment.

“My dad was an alcoholic. But he was actually a nice guy most of the time. We used to go on all of these trips together. And he was a really good cook. He taught me everything I know about baking. He got Ethan and I into football, too. We used to play in the yard all the time…” She trailed off, and her eyes started to look glazed over. Empty, even.

“Part of me wishes I could just forget about all of that. It would be so much easier to get over him dying if I could just forget all the good things and remember him as the monster he was.” 

Yeah, Hope knew all about that feeling. 

“But this other little part of me just makes me hold on. Hold on to the idea of him as my perfect father, and blame everything else on the alcohol.” Maya paused again and shifted closer to Hope, if that was even possible. An inch more, and the girl would be on top of her.

“He used to go crazy when he was drunk. He’d scream at us for nothing, hit us whenever he was angry. He even tried to strangle me when he found out I liked girls.” Silent tears rolled down her cheeks, her voice breaking ever so slightly.

“Then, this one night, he came home late…and he walked into the living room, um…pointing a gun at us, screaming all this…this random stuff. And um…Ethan, he went for the phone, to try to call 911. Dad shot at him. He missed, thank god, but my mom started, um…started trying to take it from him.” Maya started to cry harder, her ragged breathing making her nearly incoherent.

“S-she didn’t mean to do it. She was j-just trying to protect Ethan.” The dark-haired girl bawled into her shoulder, and Hope turned to face her, wrapping a protective arm around her waist and stroking her hair gently. 

“My mom said she never wanted to feel that helpless again.” Maya continued, once she had calmed down a bit. “She quit her teaching job and started at the police academy. After she graduated, she was offered Sheriff Donovan’s job when he became mayor. So we moved here.”

“I’m really sorry, Maya.” 

“It’s okay. I’ve done a lot of therapy since then to work through all the trauma from him getting shot and the thing about liking girls and everything.” Maya said. “I think that fucked me up more than anything. Even his death. I refused to tell anyone else for, like, a year. I was so scared they’d all hate me, like he did.” She confessed.

“You know, you’re the only person I’ve ever told.” Hope admitted.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Wow.”

The girls lay in silence, both still a bit lost in their own heads.

“Hope?” Maya whispered after a moment.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you. I don’t know how I would’ve gotten through tonight without you.” She nuzzled into Hope once again, her breath ghosting over the auburnette’s neck.

“Goodnight, Hope.”

“Goodnight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> who tops: hope or maya? --give me allllll the opinions in the comments
> 
> p.s. my first class starts in 2 hours but this takes priority over sleep lmao


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> some real haya for u

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i’m sorry for the wait, school’s been effing wild (i go to a super intense performing arts school so i have classes from 8am to 9pm 6 days a week lmao oof) but i hope the long chapter makes up for it hehe
> 
> also warning: josie’s starting to go dark, so she’s kind of a bitch. some degrading language and controlling/slightly aggressive behavior w landon

Hope lets her eyes flutter open, then immediately snaps them shut once again, blinded by the bright sun pouring through her window. Slowly, she opens them again, glancing at the clock on her bedside table. It’s almost 7, and they still need to get ready for school.

Briefly, she considered just letting Maya sleep in. She had had a hard night, she deserved to get some rest. And Hope didn’t want to stop cuddling her, anyways.

Maya had an arm slung loosely around her waist, her face buried in the crook of Hope’s neck and a leg tangled in her own. She looked so small, so sweet. Hope could watch her sleep for forever.

She brushed a stray lock of hair out of the sleeping girl’s face, tucking it behind her ear gently. She stirred slightly, making a small, whiny noise, her face contorting into a pout.

God, why did she love that pouty face so much?

“Good morning.” Hope whispered, a smile creeping onto her face.

“Hi.” Maya finally opened her eyes and lifted her head a bit so she could face Hope. Her hair was messy and her face was bloated from sleep, her eyes still not fully open. Hope thought that she was nothing short of stunning.

“We’ve gotta head to school soon.” She reminded the sleepy girl, her voice taking on a soft, airy quality. “How are you feeling?” Maya just groaned in response, rolling partially onto Hope and burying her face in her neck once again. 

“I do NOT want to deal with school right now.” The girl’s breath was hot on her neck, sending shivers down her spine.

“I would much rather stay in bed with you.” She added. Hope could feel the girl’s lips unintentionally ghosting the skin of her neck as she talked. Her eyes fell closed, her head involuntarily tilting back, almost arching up into her. She prayed that the other girl couldn’t feel her racing heart, but considering their current position, she doubted that she had any such luck.

“I…um…” She stuttered. Get it together, Hope.

“I could ask Dr. Saltzman for permission to skip today. He’d probably say yes.” She suggested, willing her voice not to betray just how affected she was by Maya’s closeness.

Maya hummed in agreement, the vibrations traveling easily to the sensitive skin of Hope’s neck. She nearly choked on her air at the feeling, and sat up quickly to try to avoid any further chances to embarrass herself in front of Maya.

“I’ll go ask!” She nearly ran out of the room in her panic.

She found her principal sitting at the kitchen table, sipping coffee and poring over some supernatural monster index.

“Maya’s in the house, you know that, right?” She remarked, giving a pointed look at his book.

“Good morning to you too, Hope.” He drawled sarcastically. She ignored him.

“So, Dr. Saltzman…” She began, not quite sure of the proper way to ask your principal for permission to ditch school.

“You can call me Ric.” He interjected, his nose wrinkling slightly in distaste. “I hate being called Dr. Saltzman, to be honest. Makes me feel old.”

“Okay, Ric.” Despite how much he had treated her like an adult over the past few years, it still felt weird to call him by his first name.

“So, as you know, Maya had a really rough night.” Hope began, as emphatically as possible. “And my life hasn’t been a cake walk this week either.”

Ric raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you want, Hope?”

“Fine.” She sighed. “Can Maya and I take the day off of school? Please?” He pondered that for a moment, then turned back to her.

“I’m okay with that. I think the two of you deserve a break.” He agreed.

“Thank you SO much.” Hope turned and ran back up the stairs. “See you later!”

“Bye!” Ric chuckled to himself.

The girls spent the morning cuddled in bed watching Netflix. They were halfway through the movie when Hope’s stomach started to growl a bit too loudly to be ignored. 

“Do you want lunch?” She asked the dark-haired girl. 

*

Maya dashes up to Hope, grinning like a giddy little kid, holding something behind her back that Hope couldn’t quite see.

“I have an idea!” Maya proclaimed. Hope couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face at the girl’s unbridled excitement.

“What’s your idea?” She asked, trying to match her enthusiasm. Maya pulled a box of cupcake mix out from behind her back and held it out for Hope to see.

“Cupcakes?” Hope asked. Maya just smiled wider in response. 

Ric’s kitchen was still completely unfamiliar to her, so she found herself rifling through every single drawer and cabinet in search of measuring cups and mixing bowls. She finally managed to gather everything she needed while Maya just stood there and watched, entirely unhelpfully. 

She got to work setting out the ingredients, pulling the bag of cupcake mix out of its box, when she felt a pair of arms snake around her waist from behind, a chin slotting itself over her shoulder. Her breath caught, and oh god, was Maya preheating the oven or something? The room just got ten times hotter.

Apparently, she squeezed the bag in her hands a bit too hard, because before she could even comprehend what was happening, a giant cloud of cupcake mix erupted into her face.

She could hear Maya dying of laughter behind her and spun around in her arms, still dusted in a thin layer of the powdery mix. 

“This is your fault!” Hope exclaimed with no real malice, then promptly tossed a handful of the mix into Maya’s face as well.

The girl stood frozen for a moment, flour-covered eyes glued shut and mouth hanging wide open, slowly morphing into a devilish smile.

“Oh, it’s on!” Maya replied in mock indignation, grabbing the bag of cupcake mix from behind Hope and flinging the remainder of it’s contents onto her.

Hope had already dipped a hand into the tub of frosting they had planned to decorate their desserts with later, and smeared a generous amount down Maya’s face. The frosting-laden girl stood frozen to her spot for a moment, before wiping her eyes quickly and lunging for the sink behind her. She grabbed the sprayer and aimed it at Hope, showering her with freezing cold tap water, but not before the auburn-haired girl could launch an egg directly into her chest. Hope tried to block the water with her hands to no avail, so she ran to the dark-haired girl, grabbing the sprayer and quickly turning it on her.

Maya let out a small shriek at the ice-cold water that was now thoroughly soaking her clothing. “Okay, okay, okay, okay, truce, truce, truce! Please, Hope!” She squealed at the smaller girl. 

Hope relented, dropping the sprayer and leaving it to dangle by its hose from the edge of the sink, and the girls’ heavy breathing was finally interrupted by uncontrollable giggles as they took each other in. 

Maya looked like a wet puppy. A wet puppy with a faceful of frosting and bits of eggshell clinging to the front of her shirt.

Hope hadn’t fared much better. The water had combined with the cupcake mix that coated Hope’s clothing, creating a cold, slimy mixture that she was more than ready to rid herself of.

“I need a shower.” Hope remarked, her nose crinkling in disgust.”

“Can I join?” Maya asked, a teasing lilt in her voice. Hope’s eyes widened to the size of saucers, her mouth opening and closing uselessly. 

“Relax, it was a joke.” Maya assured her, her smirk not concealed whatsoever. 

“Oh. Right.” Shit, was she really being that obvious? Maybe she had been too touchy with Maya. Maybe she had noticed all of her staring. Oh god, Maya probably thought she was some kind of creep. Tone it the fuck down, Hope.

*

’Toning it down’ lasted a grand total of 10 minutes. The girls had taken (separate) showers, Maya using the one in the guest bathroom.

She had dressed herself in the same outfit she had worn 2 days prior, and was in the process of toweling her hair off when she heard a voice behind her.

“Hope?”

She turns to find Maya in her doorway, wrapped in a towel. Only a towel. She gulps audibly, her eyes following a drop of water that was trailing down the girl’s neck, across the expanse of tanned skin that peeked out above her towel before sliding down the valley of her-

“Hope?” Maya repeated, the same smirk gracing her face once again.

“I just need clothes.” I forgot to ask you for some.

“Oh, uh. Yeah. Clothes. You need clothes. Um.” Hope mumbled, tripping over her broken words.  Get it together, Hope! Stop acting like an idiot!

“I don’t have clothes.” Hope blurted out, unhelpfully. Maya just raised an eyebrow in response. 

“I mean, since I moved. I don’t really have any clothes. I’m wearing what I wore to school a few days ago.” She explained, starting to regain her ability to talk like a normal person.

“Sounds like we need to go shopping.”

*

It took a bit of convincing; Hope had never been big on clothes shopping with friends (Or clothes shopping at all. Or having friends, for that matter), but she needed clothes regardless.

She, begrudgingly, allowed Maya to dress her up in whatever she wanted. As much as she hated feeling like a living mannequin, she decided that Maya’s constant stream of complements made the activity worth it. 

“You have a really nice figure.” Maya commented once after zipping up a mini-dress that she had all but forced Hope into. She brushed her fingertips along the auburn-haired girl’s waist, as if to emphasize her point, making Hope’s breath hitch and sending a shiver down her spine.

“This would look amazing on you.” Maya boldly remarked another time, holding up a black lingerie set. She smiled triumphantly when the tribrid’s face flushed a deep crimson, leaving her speechless for what felt like hours. 

Was Maya picturing her in lingerie? The thought alone made her head spin.

She ended up buying it, but definitely not because of what Maya said. She just needed more underwear. 

“Oh my god, you have abs.” Said Maya in yet another store, after convincing Hope to try on a cute cropped sweatshirt. It was the only time the auburn-haired girl had ever seen her cool, calm demeanor falter (with the exception of their conversation the night before), the only hint that the other girl had given her to suggest that she might be as affected by Hope as Hope was by her.

The dark-haired girl had zoned out completely, her eyes fixed on Hope’s toned stomach. She raised her hand a bit, as if she was going to reach out and touch the enthralling six-pack before her, but dropped it just as quickly. 

Her oh-so-obvious reaction gave Hope a small boost of confidence; Just enough to catch Maya’s wrist and place her hand just above her navel.

She felt cool fingers flex against her stomach, a small gasp escaping her mouth before she could even attempt to stop it. 

The tension in the room was thick; Maya’s hand was halfway up her shirt and both girls were completely frozen, silent; The only sound was their shaky, uneven breathing. 

“Do you girls need help with anything?” A sales rep called through the door, snapping the girls out of their stupor. Maya jumped back, getting her head on straight enough to call back, “No, we’re all good in here, thanks!”

They grabbed the clothing they had tried on and hurried out of the dressing room in complete silence.

Needless to say, Hope bought that sweatshirt too. 

After all of their shopping was complete, the girls found their way to the food court. In the midst of everything that had happened that day, they had completely forgotten to eat.

They found a small table on the edge of a coffee shop, and ate in awkward, vaguely tense silence. 

Hope couldn’t help but think that something had shifted between them, couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened had the sales lady not interrupted them.

Would Maya have kissed her? Would she have slipped her hands further up Hope’s shirt, or downwards, touching her where she wanted her, needed her the most? Heat pooled in her abdomen at the mere thought.

She shifted uncomfortably, crossing her legs tightly, stealing a glance at the girl across from her. Maya’s phone was held in front of her face, but her thoughts were apparently elsewhere as well, because when Hope looked up, she caught her eyes for the briefest moment, before the dark-haired girl averted her eyes back towards the screen.

She heard the other girl clear her throat softly. “Um, Hope?” She asked, her voice far more timid than the tribrid had ever known it to be.

“Yeah?”

“Um, there’s this party tonight, it’s kind of a tradition to throw one after Stallions-Timberwolves games, and, um…” Maya finally raised her eyes to meet Hope’s. “I was wondering if you’d want to come with me?”

“Mmhm!” Hope managed, nodding her head so enthusiastically that it was borderline aggressive, barely managing to contain the huge grin that threatened to appear on her face.

What the hell was this girl doing to her? There wasn’t a day in Hope’s life where she hadn’t flat-out refused any and all party invitations thrown her way. Hope Mikaelson did not party.

And yet, here she was, grinning like an idiot, jumping at the chance to fraternize with a bunch of drunk, horny teenagers.

All for Maya.

*

The girls hurried home, eager to get ready for the party.

Hope kept it casual, pulling on a pair of black athletic shorts and the new cropped hoodie that Maya had loved so much, while Maya donned a much nicer white halter top paired with a pastel pink skirt that showed off a breathtaking amount of smooth, tan skin.

Maya made quick work of flat-ironing her hair, while Hope just let hers fall in its natural waves, opting to start on her makeup instead.

“How do I look?” She asked the dark-haired girl, once she had put the finishing touches on her makeup. She felt her face burn as Maya’s eyes raked up and down her body, beholding her as if she were a precious work of art, not some teenager looking to get wasted.

Without a word, Maya reached into her makeup bag, pulling out her eyeliner and holding it up to the auburn-haired girl with a questioning look.

“Go for it.” Hope responded. Maya stepped cautiously, respectfully into her space, placing a crooked finger underneath her chin to keep her face steady. 

As the other girl painted thin dark lines along her lashes, Hope thought back to the day they met, how Maya so carefully did her eyeliner, just as she’s doing now, and how she so completely overwhelmed Hope’s senses, just as she currently was.

“Done.” Maya all but whispered, retracting her hands slowly from Hope’s face and laced their fingers together. “You look perfect.” 

Hope ducked her head, grinning bashfully, a light blush tinting her cheeks. “You do too.”

The girls held each other’s gaze for a moment, slipping back into the same trance they had found themselves in in the dressing room. 

Hope felt the air become thicker, her heart threatening to beat out of her chest. It would be so easy, she thought, to take just a single step forward, to press her lips to Maya’s own, to devour her like she was destined to do nothing else. 

But besides Ric, Hope didn’t really have anybody but Maya. She shouldn’t kiss her, couldn’t kiss her. The people she loved had a tendency to die on her, and if she lost Maya after everything that had happened in the past few months…well, she just might break.

Hope cleared her throat, ending the moment abruptly. It’s for the best, right?

“Come with me.” She led the dark-haired girl by their already-joined hands down the stairs and to the cabinet in the living room, where she knew Ric kept his endless supply of liquor.

“I think I’m gonna lose my mind if I show up to this party sober. You down for some pre-gaming?” Hope asked, revealing the wide variety of drinks before them.

“Always.” 

Hope decided on a bottle of vodka that was tucked away on the bottom shelf, in hopes that it was one Ric wouldn’t pay any attention to, at least not enough to notice some missing. She poured them two shots each, enough to at least get Maya tipsy. Stupid tribrid blood.

They downed them without issue; Maya had always been a bit of a party girl and Hope took after Ric a bit more than she might like to admit when it came to drowning sorrows in alcohol.

“Be right back.” Hope held up a finger, signaling to Maya to stay put. She rounded the corner, and the moment she was out of sight she raised the bottle to her lips, chugging no less than half of it. Even with her vampire lineage, that should be plenty to at least take the edge off.

“Okay, let’s go!”

*

“You didn’t tell me  they  would be here.” The tipsy tribrid borderline growled, gesturing at the hordes of drunken Salvatore boys roaming the house.

“Hope, what part of Stallions-Timberwolves football party did you not understand?” The other girl joked. “Relaaaaaxxxxx.” She jabbed at the tribrid’s arm playfully. “Let’s go get a beer.”

Maya dragged her unceremoniously through the house, weaving in and out of ‘dancing’ couples and stumbling, obnoxious fuckboys until they reached the kitchen.

A beer was offered to her, which she gladly accepted, while Maya took one for herself as well. 

They wandered back towards the direction of the living room, Maya wandering off to greet a group of friends and Hope finding a small pocket of space where she could lean against the wall, sipping her beer and taking in the sights around her.

It’s not like this was her first party ever, she wasn’t a total loner. She had been to plenty of birthday parties in her middle school days.

And, okay, maybe this was a bit different, maybe Hope didn’t quite know what to do with herself. Maybe the almighty tribrid was feeling a little overwhelmed and more than a little insecure, lurking in the corner like some kind of clueless idiot.

A stumbling Maya made her way towards her, no longer holding her beer, so Hope could only assume that she had already finished it. 

“Loosen upppp.” The other girl slurred slightly, grabbing Hope’s hands and swinging them to the beat of the blasting music that surrounded them. “Come onnnn, dance with me, baby.”

Hope brought her bottle to her face to conceal her flusterment, finishing her drink off quickly. 

Hope Mikaelson did not dance while sober.

Maya dragged her by the hand to where the other couples were dancing, Hope abandoning her empty beer on a random side table.

She could feel the alcohol starting to take effect, a wave of warmth spreading throughout her body. Just enough of a buzz that when Maya threw Hope’s arms around her neck and planted her hands on Hope’s hips, she just went along with it, giggling and pulling her closer, following the other girl as she moved to the beat of the music.

Just enough of a buzz that when Maya spun her around, snaking her arms around Hope’s waist and laying her hands flat against her exposed abs, she didn’t panic, just placed her hands on top of Maya’s and started grinding back into her.

Just enough of a buzz that, when she locked eyes with Josie Saltzman of all people, she barely even faltered, just guided the other girl’s hands downward, trailing them back up her inner thighs, focusing solely on the feeling of Maya’s breath, coming out in short, little pants, felt and sounded so incredibly hot right against her ear, rather than the scent of the siphoner, which, somehow, she could still pick out amongst everything else.

Fucking werewolf senses.

*

Oh my god, what was it with those two and being so fucking horny in public? 

Seriously, it was disgusting. 

And where the hell was Landon? He had been standing right behind her a second ago.

“Here, babe, I got you a drink.” The curly-haired boy was walking towards her, two red cups in hand. Josie grabbed them both, knocking them back as quickly as possible. She needed to get the horrific images of Hope and Maya defiling each other on the dance floor out of her head before she puked.

“Uh, Jo? Everything okay?” A hesitant Landon asked. She stared him down, venom in her eyes, giving a sharp, “I’m FINE” through gritted teeth.

“Really? Because when I came back, you stole my drink. And you looked like you were about to cry-“

“I said, I’m FINE!” Josie growled, grabbing the hand that Landon had placed on her arm and throwing it off of her, crossing her arms fiercely and turning to face away from him, pouting in the other direction. 

Of course, that’s where those two stupid sluts were “dancing”, so Josie ended up with an eyeful of that instead. 

Fuck this stupid party.

She shoved Landon down onto a nearby couch, straddling him unceremoniously, then fisted her hands into his shirt and kissed him. Hard.

Her blood was boiling. She felt like she couldn’t even fucking breathe. She thrust her hands into Landon’s chest, knocking him away as abruptly as she had pulled him in.

“Why do people think they can just be all over each other like that in public?” She exclaimed in a high-pitched, annoyed tone. Landon’s face contorted in confusion.

“Uh, I’m sorry, Jo. But you were the one who kissed me-“ 

“Shut up, not you.” She turned to throw an icy glare behind her. “Them.”

Landon followed her gaze, his eyes falling Maya and Hope.

“Don’t look at her!” Josie hissed, shifting in her position on his lap to create a barrier between him and Hope. Landon’s eyes widened, raising his hands in surrender.

“I didn’t…I-I wasn’t…”

Josie cut him off by crashing their lips together once again, rolling her hips down into his.

Her mind wandered to the way she had seen Hope touching Maya: Soft, gentle, almost reverent. Landon could take a page or two out of her book. 

He was such a terrible kisser. His tongue drifted around her mouth limply, his lips were dry and cracked, and the way he pawed at her hips just felt repulsive. 

Once again, she broke the kiss suddenly, shoving him backwards by the shoulders.

Landon would be so much more attractive with blue eyes. Blue eyes and lighter hair. Not blonde, though, she couldn’t date someone that looked that much like Lizzie. Maybe like a light reddish-brown; That color goes so well with blue eyes. Everyone with red hair and blue eyes was gorgeous, in Josie’s opinion. 

Well, almost everyone, that is.

Hope probably thought that she was sooooooo attractive. She probably just expected to have guys and girls falling all over her constantly, since she always looked so fucking flawless.

Josie was sick of it. 

She slipped a hand around the back of Landon’s neck, hoping that she could hide the brief red glow of her hand from sight that way. 

“Jo, are you siphoning me?” He hissed, glancing around to make sure nobody could tell what was going on.

She ignored him.

“Jo, what are you doing?” He tried again, placing a hand on her arm. She sent him a silent glare, apparently one fierce enough to shut him up.

She set her sights on the cup that Maya was handing Hope, muttering a quick, “Evomo” under her breath, sitting back, and watching chaos ensue.

*

“What the fuck?” Maya screeched, as the drink she had just handed Hope exploded, soaking the tribrid from the waist up.

Drinks don’t just explode on their own. And there was only one witch within her line of sight.

Josie.

Josie, who was sitting in her boyfriend’s lap, arms crossed triumphantly and a satisfied smirk painted on her lips.

They locked eyes for the briefest of moments, Hope searching and scanning Josie’s face for the tiniest shred of remorse or regret or  anything .

But the brunette never faltered. Not even for a moment. When Hope looked into her eyes, she saw nothing but darkness.

And she didn’t know why, she didn’t know how, but the Josie she had fallen in love with was gone.

“Come on.” She heard Maya mutter under her breath, tugging on her hand. She dragged her down the hall to the nearest bathroom, locking the door behind them.

“What the hell just happened with your drink?” Maya asked, guiding Hope to sit on the sink and tossing her purse onto the counter next to her.

“No clue.” Hope lied, a pang of sadness hitting deep in her chest.

A pang that was quickly replaced with a swarm of extremely overactive butterflies when she noticed Maya toying with the hem of her soaked shirt, seeking silent permission to take it off.

Hope was damp and sticky and this whole situation was objectively un-sexy, but her hormonal teenage brain didn’t seem to get that message.

Maya, on the other hand, seemed rather unaffected by the prospect of taking the tribrid’s shirt off. That is, until…

“Is that the lingerie I told you to buy today?” The dark-haired girl gulped audibly, her eyes trained on Hope’s chest.

“Like what you see?” The tribrid replied in the smoothest, most casual voice she could manage, cocking a single eyebrow upwards.

Maya just cleared her throat and chuckled slightly, placing a hand absently on Hope’s thigh as she reached past her for her purse, pulling out a small pack of makeup wipes.

One hand made its way up to the tribrid’s waist as she began to clean the streaks of black makeup off of her face with the other. She was acutely aware of their close proximity, the way she could see every single wrinkle of concentration that had appeared on Maya’s face as she tried to scrub off her waterproof eyeliner, the puffs of Maya’s breath hot against her lips.

Josie hated her. Not only did she not remember her, she hated her. The girl she loved hated her. 

You know, as much as she had tried to convince herself that she needed to leave Mystic Falls, she knew that she couldn’t have gone through with it. 

No matter what she had tried to tell herself, she wanted to stay. She wanted to stay because she was holding on to the tiniest bit of hope, hope that Josie would remember her. 

Or maybe she didn’t even need all her memories of Hope, maybe she would just fall in love with Hope all over again. Because if Josie had loved her before, why wouldn’t she love her now?

Maybe Josie hadn’t loved her. Maybe it was just a misplaced childhood crush, overshadowed by Josie’s resentment towards her for stealing her father and provoking Lizzie and whatever else she had fucked up with Josie over the years.

Because she had fucked up so many times with Josie. 

She didn’t deserve her. She was crazy to think that she might.

Landon was good for her. Landon would give her all the love she deserves, and he wouldn’t screw everything up like she would.

For the first time in her life, Hope understood what people mean by, “If you love her let her go.”

It was time to let Josie go.

It was time to move on.

“Maya?” 

The girl locked eyes with her in response, her persistent scrubbing coming to a halt.

“Are you still drunk?”

“No.” She whispered, still holding the unmoving makeup wipe against Hope’s face.

Silence.

“Are you?”

“No.” Hope responded, her whisper even quieter than Maya’s.

“Good.”

“Yeah. Good.”

Hope had never kissed a girl before. She hadn’t given it much thought, but she had never really considered that it might be any different from kissing a boy.

She’d never particularly liked kissing, never been fond of the feeling of rough lips against hers, using a little too much tongue and leaving a little too much slobber for her taste. 

Kissing had always felt like the last class of a long week, impossible to be mentally present when all you can do is wonder when it will be over, when you can move on to things that you actually enjoy.

But when Maya brushed her lips against hers, feather-light and impossibly slow, it sent shockwaves through her body, every single inch of her skin on fire. Despite having met Maya mere days ago, she feels like she’s been waiting years for this moment.

The dark-haired girl pulled back, barely an inch, locking eyes with Hope and once again asking for silent permission to proceed.

Hope’s hands found the back of her neck, crashing Maya’s lips against hers, breathing her in and devouring her lips with such passion and fervor that she may as well have been born to do nothing else.

She felt a skillful tongue swipe her bottom lip, practically begging for entrance, and couldn’t help the embarrassingly loud moan that escaped her in response.

She wrapped her legs around Maya, drawing her closer, while Maya planted her hands firmly on the tribrid’s ass, pulling her flush against her at the edge of the sink.

Hope was made painfully aware of just how thin the layer of lace covering her breasts was when Maya’s chest bumped her own, the shockingly pleasurable sensation it brought her leaving her gasping, inadvertently breaking the kiss.

The dark-haired girl wasted no time in connecting her lips to the underside of Hope’s jaw, trailing hot, open-mouthed kisses down to her collarbone, her teeth scraping lightly at the skin there.

Her wolf nearly took over at the tiny sensation, Hope squeezing her eyes shut as tightly as she could, seeing gold against the back of her eyelids. She could barely contain the growl that threatened to escape her throat, barely suppress the need to take control of Maya, to  dominate  her.

She tightened her legs around the girl’s waist almost subconsciously, rocking forward in desperate search of some kind of friction.

Apparently Maya shared her urgency, because the kisses on her neck made their way up to her ear, the other girl teasing her earlobe with gentle teeth and lips.

“Wanna get out of here?”

“Fuck.  Yes. ” Hope gasped, the other girl stepping back, eyes darkened and panting heavily.

Hope saw gold once again and turned quickly to pull her shirt on in an effort to momentarily conceal her eyes (and, of course, her mostly bare upper half).

They nearly ran the few blocks back to Maya’s house, barely breaking stride as they burst through the front door.

This time, Hope didn’t even try to suppress her alpha instincts. She slammed into Maya, pressing her against the inside of the door, interlocking their fingers and pinning Maya’s hands by her head. 

They hadn’t even kissed, and yet Hope’s chest was already heaving at the feeling of Maya’s body pressed against hers, their faces so close that their foreheads were almost touching. 

Maya shifted forward to connect their lips, but Hope forced her back, a low growl forming in her throat.

She was in charge.  She would be the one to kiss Maya, not the other way around.

The dark-haired girl leaned forward once again, dipping her head down to Hope’s neck, licking a long stripe up the column of her throat, and  fuck , because, of course Maya would have no way of knowing it, but that is  exactly how wolves submit to their Alpha.

And  god , the idea of Maya submitting to her drove her absolutely crazy. 

She was itching to touch, to feel, to  claim  her, and finally, nothing was stopping her.

She fisted her hands into Maya’s hair, crashing their lips together, leaving the other girl moaning helplessly into the kiss.

And Hope was  desperate for more, desperate to make sure that Maya never stopped moaning like that. 

She felt the press of cool fingers against her abs once again, scratching so hard it stung, making heat pool low in her abdomen.

She nearly tore Maya’s shirt from her body, the other girl doing the same to hers, and Hope was pressing herself back into Maya in an instant, slotting a knee between her legs and dragging the dark-haired girl against her thigh roughly, making her cry out in pleasure.

She let her head fall to Hope’s shoulder, breathless and panting as she began grinding down on Hope’s leg, her skirt riding up until she could feel the other girl’s wetness on her thigh. 

This only spurred her on further, her lips connecting with the underside of Maya’s jaw, nipping and sucking every single inch she could reach.

She felt a trembling hand come up to cup her breast, swiping a thumb over her sensitive nipple through the thin black lace and sending a jolt of pleasure through her entire body that knocked her knee into Maya’s core.  Hard.

“Fuck,  Hope” The girl whimpered into her ear. “Fingers. Please.” She begged, her hips moving more and more erratically against Hope.

She gladly obliged, sliding her hand up the girl’s skirt and swiping her thumb against her clit through her panties, making Maya’s entire body jolt. 

But Maya’s eyes shot open, shoving Hope off of her with a panicked expression on her face.

Apparently it wasn’t Hope’s doing at all. It was the front door being opened underneath them. Opened by a puzzled Sheriff Mac and a  very amused Ethan.


	6. Chapter 6

“Uh, hi.” Sheriff Mac begins awkwardly. “What’s going on here?”

Fuck.

Her heart stopped. The world stopped. She couldn’t even breathe.

She should probably make an effort to make herself decent, at least to put a shirt on and wipe Maya’s wetness off of her thigh before attempting to interact with her mother, but despite her literally screaming at her body to _do something, say something_ , she couldn’t force herself to move.

“Ethan!” She hears Maya hiss from behind her, snapping her fingers sharply in his face. She snaps out of her stunned stupor just in time to see Ethan’s eyes slide away from her barely-concealed boobs and onto his sister, who was stalking towards him with a murderous look in her eyes.

“Mine.” The girl growled under her breath. Ethan’s eyes widened minutely, almost as if he were genuinely intimidated by Maya. 

Why would Ethan possibly be intimidated by Maya? Yeah, she was angry, but he was huge compared to her. She couldn’t touch him. Not even with his arm in a sling and a cast.

Weird.

“Have you two been drinking?” Sheriff Mac exclaims. Maya’s menacing demeanor drops immediately as she slowly, reluctantly turns to face her mother.

“Really, Maya?” It wasn’t anger that appeared on her face, it was sadness, disappointment, fear, even.

“After everything this family has…” She trailed off, pinching the bridge of her nose for a moment. 

Fuck.

How could Hope have forgotten? 

Alcohol had literally ruined Maya’s life. Alcohol was at the very center of her entire family’s trauma.

Was it her fault that Maya had been drinking? Had she pressured her into it before the party?

Sheriff Mac probably thought that she was a horrible influence. She’d never let her see Maya again.

“Hope, honey, I think you should go.” Sheriff Mac sighed, turning back to her daughter.

Right. Just like that, Hope had managed to lose another friend.

“But mom! Hope doesn’t even have a car, she’ll have to-“

“Maya, it’s okay.” Hope interrupted, already making her way towards the door. It was a short walk, anyway. She slipped carefully between the Machados, deliberately avoiding eye contact all the way out the door.

God, how was it possible that she could fuck up a relationship so fast? Was she really so broken, so defective that she couldn’t keep one, single friend for more than three days?

She knew about Maya’s dad. She knew that he was an alcoholic, and yet she still suggested drinking before the party. How could she be so stupid, so oblivious, so insensitive?

This is why everyone leaves her. She’s a terrible person. And a terrible friend. 

She opened the front door tentatively, hoping she might just be able to slip up to her room unnoticed. Ric didn’t deserve to have to deal with her shit right now. Or ever.

No such luck.

“Hope, can I talk to you for a minute?” A voice called from the living room.

Fuck.

Deep breaths, she reminded herself. Straight face. Ric probably needed help with a monster or something. He needed Hope the tribrid, Hope the superhero, not Hope the useless, crying teenager.

“I just got a really interesting text from Sheriff Machado.” He began stiffly, making that awkward, pinched face that he so often does.

She felt her heart drop into the pit of her stomach. 

Sheriff Mac told Ric about Maya. She told Ric that she and Maya were hooking up. 

No, no, no. She swore she wouldn’t panic. Monster issues or not, she wasn’t going to burden Ric with some pathetic freak-out. But all of a sudden, there were a thousand bricks sitting on her chest, collapsing her lungs, stealing her every breath, and-

“Hope, it’s, uh…it’s really not that big of a deal. You’re a sexed-up teenager, it’s perfectly normal-“

“No, no, it’s not that.” Hope began, eyes trained on the floor. “You didn’t know. Before Malivore.”

God, she wasn’t making any sense. Deep breaths.

“You didn’t know I liked girls.” She whispered, tears flooding down her face for what felt like the millionth time this week.

“I know, it’s stupid, I knew you’d be fine with it because of Josie and everything, I just-“

“What do you mean, ‘because of Josie’?” He interjected.

“I just mean…I knew you wouldn’t have a problem with it since you never had a problem with Josie being pan.” Hope explained, finally meeting his eyes but finding nothing but confusion behind them.

“Josie...you mean my daughter Josie?” He questioned.

Hope just nodded. Why was Ric acting so clueless?

“Hope, uh… Josie’s straight.”

What? What the hell was he talking about?

Sure, Ric could be a bit absent with his daughters, but he definitely knew that Josie was pansexual. Every single person at Salvatore had been subjected to her and Penelope’s excessive face-sucking in the halls between class, and he was no exception.

“What do you mean, she’s straight? She dated Penelope for, like, a year!” 

Ric looked at her like she’d absolutely lost her mind.

“Penelope, as in Penelope Park? Josie despised Penelope.” 

How was this possible? Josie definitely wasn’t straight when Hope left, how could she be straight now?

“And how do you even know Penelope?” Ric added, baffled. She was still too caught up in her own thoughts to answer.

He sighed deeply. “Hope, I still hardly know anything about you. I want to help you, but I need you to talk to me.”

She knew that this was coming at some point. Honestly, she was surprised that he’d left her alone for as long as he had. She dropped down next to him on the couch, kicking her legs up onto the coffee table and pulling a throw pillow into her lap. Where the hell was she even supposed to start with this? 

“You said you’re Klaus and Hayley’s daughter, right?” He answered her unspoken question for her. “So how are you a witch?”

Of course he would ask the most complicated question first.

“Because of Esther. My dad’s mom.” She answered simply. He was the headmaster of a school for the supernatural, for god’s sake, he knew the history of the Mikaelson family.

“I got my grandmother’s magic and my parents’ werewolf genes. And since my dad’s half vampire, I also have vampire blood. So, theoretically, I’ll also become a vampire when I die.” Hope’s bored, almost rehearsed answer is starkly juxtaposed by Ric’s incredulous facial expression.

“So that makes me the one and only tribrid.” Hope added, gesturing with mock enthusiasm. Only she could somehow manage sarcastic jazz-hands.

“A tribrid…” Ric repeated.

“Yep.” She confirmed, popping the p. She definitely wasn’t taking this seriously enough, but telling her life story was no easy task, and she wasn’t in the mood for another breakdown today. So, forced humor and apathy it is.

“My parents sent me to Salvatore when I was 7. People had been trying to kill me my whole life, and they wanted me to have a ‘normal childhood’.” She mocked, making exaggerated air quotes.

“You helped me keep my identity a secret from everyone at school. For 8 years, they all knew me as Hope Marshall, the witch. You didn’t want anyone to treat me differently for being a tribrid, or for being the ‘Great Evil’s’ daughter.” She gave a dry, humorless chuckle at the nickname.

“They all found out when he was killed, though. I didn’t care, I shut everyone out anyway. I spent all of my time with you, helping you fight Malivore monsters and training. You were always all over me about making friends my own age, but I never would. Until I started talking to Josie.” Her voice wavered slightly, dangerously close to exposing…whatever it was she was feeling.

“But none of that matters anymore. They all forgot about me.” She stated coldly, abruptly getting to her feet. “Goodnight, Ric.”

Much to Hope’s relief, he didn’t even try to stop her, just watched as she hurried towards the stairs. But something stopped her, something weighed on her so heavily that she couldn’t bring herself to brush it aside.

“Is it possible that erasing somebody’s memories about me would change things about them? Like some kind of ripple effect?” Hope asked, hand perched on the banister and a foot frozen on the first stair.

“I suppose if you had some kind of major influence on a part of a person’s identity, erasing their memories of you might erase part of them, too.” Ric speculated. “Why?”

Hope was already running up the stairs, avoiding having to answer him.

Josie would never love her back. Josie _could_ never love her back. She’s straight now.

Somehow, it feels like she’s lost Josie a dozen times in the past few days.

Josie forgot her.

Josie’s with Landon.

Josie hates her.

Josie’s not even acting like herself anymore.

Josie’s straight.

And no matter how many times she tells herself that she needs to let her go, it feels like a punch to the gut every time.

Every. Single. Fucking. Time.

And now she’s lost Maya too.

She flicked the lights off as soon as she entered her room, barely managing to kick her shoes off before she flopped face-down onto her bed.

Fuck her life.

She raised her head for only a moment, retrieving her phone from her back pocket and grabbing the charging cord on her nightstand to plug it in.

‘Maya Machado: I had fun tonight ;)’ Her phone screen read. 

She felt her heart flutter, a grin so wide it hurt her cheeks spreading across her face.

Maya didn’t hate her. Maya didn’t hate her. Maya. Didn’t. Hate. Her.

‘Me too ;) Can’t wait to see you tomorrow!” She typed out, finger hovering over the ‘send’ button.

Was that too desperate? Too enthusiastic?

Screw it, Hope decided, hitting send before she could change her mind. There was no such thing as too enthusiastic with Maya.

She had finally found someone who would stay.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry for the short filler chapter, the next one will be much longer


End file.
